1. Technical Field
The invention relates to vacuum cleaners. Particularly, the invention relates to a vacuum cleaner bag housing assembly. Even more particularly, the invention relates to a bag housing assembly having a rear bag housing and a bag door, one or both of which is at least partially formed of a semi-rigid flexible fabric material.
2. Background Information
Conventional upright vacuum cleaners typically include a foot portion and an upper handle portion pivotally connected to the foot portion. The foot includes an agitator for agitating or loosening dirt and debris from the floor surface, and a motor-fan assembly which creates a suction for drawing the dirt and debris into the vacuum cleaner through a nozzle. The upper handle portion supports a bag housing assembly and includes a hand grip which is used to manipulate the vacuum cleaner over the floor surface. The bag housing assembly houses a vacuum cleaner filter bag which fluidly communicates with the nozzle to receive and filter the dirt-laden air and emit clean exhaust air.
Various types of bag housing assemblies have been used to house and mount the filter bag. The most popular types of bag housing assemblies are referred to as "soft bag" housings and "hard bag" housings. Soft bag housings are usually manufactured from a fabric, such as a non-woven polyester or a porous vinyl material, to allow the clean exhaust air to flow therethrough. The filter bag is accessible through a zippered opening formed in the soft bag which allows the user to remove and replace the filter bag. These soft bag housing assemblies are lightweight which reduces the total weight of the vacuum cleaner, and are formed from a deformable non-scuffing material which will not damage furniture in the event the vacuum cleaner accidentally comes into contact therewith. Further, the air permeable soft bags provide an additional layer of filter material which is capable of filtering some particles which may escape the filter bag.
Hard bag housings are typically formed from a rigid plastic such as ABS or polystyrene and include a rear bag housing which forms a bag cavity, and a hard bag door which encloses the bag cavity. The hard bag door releasably latches to the rear bag housing allowing the user to remove and replace the filter bag. These hard bag housings provide easy access to the filter bag by merely unlatching and removing the bag housing door, and provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the vacuum cleaner.
Although these bag housing assemblies are adequate for the purpose for which they are intended, the need exists for an improved bag housing assembly which combines the lightweight, soft and non-scuffing characteristics of a soft bag housing with the easy filter bag access and aesthetically pleasing appearance of a hard bag housing.